Valley Axe is now an official member of the WATL Clan. Our members have been asking for more opportunities to compete and meet fellow throwers around the continent so we listened and got certified to compete with WATL’s best.

WHAT IS WATL?

WATL stands for the World Axe Throwing League. It was established in 2016 with the goal of advancing the sport of axe throwing to mainstream consciousness. To date WATL has 130+ affiliated venues all running leagues and sending their champions to compete in massive tournaments. In December 2018 The WATL Championship was aired live on ESPN 3 and re-aired multiple times on ESPN2. That tournament has brought a lot of attention to axe throwing and is accelerating popularity rapidly. The first place winner took home $5000USD! And we’re sure the WATL brass are working on topping that prize money in year’s to come.

WHEN IS THIS HAPPENING?

Our first WATL season will begin in April and run through May. Week one will be on April 11th.

IS THIS DIFFERENT FROM THE STANDARD LEAGUE AT VA?

Without a doubt WATL has some stark contrasts to our IKTHOF based leagues.

Heres a list of the main differences.

IKTHOF League vs. WATL League

Multiple distances Single Distance

Axe and knife Axe only

Cumulative scoring Head-to-head format

End grain targets 2X10 targets

There are some pretty serious differences between the two types of league. One requires competence with a wide range of distances and implements while the other requires you to be consistently perfect with one implement at one distance. We think of it like a comparison of boxing and mixed martial arts. Both difficult and engaging in their own way.

HOW DOES A WATL LEAGUE WORK?

A WATL League is based on an 8 week format. Every Thursday for the first 7 weeks at 6:30pm you will come to Valley Axe and will have 4 matches against fellow league members. After 7 weeks, players will be ranked based on their win record and placed in final tournament for week 8. The winner of the final tournament will be the season champion and may qualify for the Championship at the end of the year against the best WATL throwers in the World for some big money, and possibly on live national television!

THE FINE DETAILS OF WATL MATCHES

For a full breakdown of WATL’s rules and format please visit the official site.